Heart Health Month with Electronic Caregiver:

We understand that thinking about heart health isn’t an easy thing, and we don’t do it regularly enough either, but it’s important. Your heart needs your attention! It’s doing a lot for you, so understanding how it works and how to take care of it can make a big difference in our quality of life.

What Does My Heart Do?

Your heart is part of your circulatory system, keeping things like blood and oxygen moving through your body while you work, play, eat and sleep. While your heart function sounds simple, it’s an extremely complex muscle that carries blood and nutrients to all your other organs.

Your heart is keeping you going, day after day, usually with no thought or input from you. That is, until things go wrong.

Heart disease is a leading cause of death in the United States for both men and women. Therefore, heart health should be our priority! But, it’s certainly easier said than done.

How to Know If You Have a Heart Problem

Some heart symptoms can mirror symptoms of anxiety or other illness, so it’s important that if you’re experiencing any of the following, you get in touch with your doctor right away. Telehealth appointments are now widely available if you’re worried about an in-office visit.

Signs of a serious heart condition can include:

Aches and pains. Chest pain is a common sign of heart trouble, but pain in other areas of the body may signal something is up with your heart. Pain in the shoulders, arms, back, jaw, or stomach can be a sign of heart disease. If the pain occurs with exercise, or you experience pain with fatigue and swelling of the legs or feet, call your doctor.

Fatigue and shortness of breath. Right now, if you experience either of these symptoms, you may immediately think it’s Covid-19. If you haven’t been exposed to the virus or if you test negative but still have symptoms, it may be heart disease.

An irregular heart beat. Again, this could be another illness or issue, such as anxiety, drinking too much caffeine, and a lack of rest or dehydration. There are times that heart palpitations can be a heart problem. If you have had or are having an irregular heart beat, record when it’s happening in a calendar or journal so you can discuss it with your doctor.

Monitor Heart Health with Electronic Caregiver

Whether you think of your heart regularly or not, you can have a better understanding of your overall health by monitoring your vital signs at home. This is especially important for those with underlying health conditions, although some healthy people can experience elevated blood pressure or decreased oxygen flow at any time.

Electronic Caregiver’s Pro Health System can help you keep track of your overall health and keep you connected to help if you need it. What’s more, our Precision Remote Patient Monitoring (PRPM) gives caregivers and doctors the ability to identify patients’ heart rates, pulse oximetry, daily weights, and blood pressure in real-time.

Monitoring these vital signs in patients with cardiovascular conditions is crucial to preventing recurrent and unnecessary hospitalizations. And, knowing when a patient contacts emergency services can be lifesaving.

Additionally, knowing your vitals can save time if you experience any of the above symptoms, because your doctor will have baseline information about your general health quickly, in order to help make an accurate diagnosis.

When to Report Heart Symptoms

If you have known heart disease or factors that raise your risk for heart disease (like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or smoking) you should speak to your doctor right away if you experience any change in your health.

If one or more symptoms come on suddenly, like shortness of breath, pressure in the chest, pain, nausea or dizziness, You should call 911 for help immediately. These may be signs of a heart attack.

With Electronic Caregiver, help is there at the press of a button—even if you can’t get to a phone or call 911.

Becoming Heart Healthy

Taking preventive measures can lower your risk of developing heart disease. These measures also have the added benefit of improving your overall physical and mental health.

Whether or not you are experiencing heart problems today, there are simple steps you can take to make sure your heart stays in good shape. Be sure to talk to your doctor before making significant changes in your routine, especially if you have other conditions.

• Get regular checkups, and take care of other underlying conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure;
• Eat more plant-based, heart-healthy meals;
• Exercise in a way that is safe for you;
• Try meditation or other relaxing activities to manage stress;
• Quit smoking.

If you’ve been diagnosed with a cardiovascular condition, your doctor is your best resource for what to do to take care of your heart. They may advise changes to your daily routine and habits and it can really help to have someone who loves you—and your heart!—participate with you.

If you’re interested in another partner in your heart health journey, call us at 833.ECG.LIFE today to discuss our connected devices.